Navigation

The Rational Response Squad is a group of atheist activists who impact society by changing the way we view god belief. This site is a haven for those who are pushing back against the norm, and a place for believers of gods to have their beliefs exposed as false should they want to try their hand at confronting us.

Buy any item on AMAZON, and we'll use the small commission to help end theism, dogma, violence, hatred, and other irrationality. Buy an Xbox 360 -- PS3 -- Laptop -- Apple

"What happened to break your faith?"

Posted on: January 23, 2007 - 12:21pm

MattShizzle

Posts: 7966

Joined: 2006-03-31

Offline

"What happened to break your faith?"

Who else among those of us who were once Christians and are now atheists are tired of Christians assuming something "happened?" For me, I just realized that believing something on faith is completely stupid and that the Bible could not possibly be true.

Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team

Xians do that to divert blame. They don't want to admit that there's some merit to your disbelief. The thing they always assume is that someone mistreated me. But no one ever did! The hardest part of de-converting, for me, was leaving behind a community.

Who else among those of us who were once Christians and are now atheists are tired of Christians assuming something "happened?" For me, I just realized that believing something on faith is completely stupid and that the Bible could not possibly be true.

Of course, by necessity, if you were once a Christian and are now a rational atheist, then something MUST have happened. Your deconversion wasn't uncaused I assume. therefore, something happened. Of course, I would imagine that some assume that your deconversion was emotionally motivated (i.e. God let your dad die or something) and that is what they mean. But regardless, it is a safe assumption that someone who was once a theist and is now an atheist changed their beliefs for a reason, thus making their question an entirely appropriate one.Brandon

Who else among those of us who were once Christians and are now atheists are tired of Christians assuming something "happened?" For me, I just realized that believing something on faith is completely stupid and that the Bible could not possibly be true.

I for one, definitely hate it when people assume that I (or other/all atheists) became an atheist because something bad happened. In fact, in the past, whenever something bad happened (my dog dying, my horse dying, my mother dying, other family members dying, etc.) I had always become more religious.

What eventually happened, was that I became so religious, that I decided to read the bible. And as Penn and Teller said, nothing will make you an atheist faster then reading the damn bible.

I was so horrified by the disgusting, vile, barbaric, in-human, sexist, racist, (I could go on like this for a while ) crap in the bible, that I eventually just became a deist.

Once I became a deist, and I had abandoned the blind faith of Christianity, God and theology was open for logic and questioning. Not to long after I began to question the theology about god, I became agnostic.

Finally, I watched The Root of all Evil, and read Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion (if you haven't read it, you should, it is amazing). After that, I was proud to call myself an atheist.

Of course, by necessity, if you were once a Christian and are now a rational atheist, then something MUST have happened.

Of course something happened.

I found that when a Christian wants to know "what happened," and you start giving your reasons, they usually get to the point where they think you left the faith because someone wronged you, or you like to do some heinous sin. Anything else is seen as simply rationalization after the fact.

I saw many Christians (including my wife) acting as though the rules of the Bible applied to everyone but them. Then I read the Bible again and saw that God did the same thing. The rules he made applied to everyone but him. I value a stable society too highly to live like that.

Thanks to the RRS and Infidel Guy, I also got more information on the sources of the Bible stories that I hadn't known before. That information helped me to understand all the nonsense that the Bible contains.

"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin

I have often wondered what extra perspective I would have gained if I had actually come from a position of belief, since I cannot remember ever taking it seriously, probably thanks at least in part to a skeptical Dad.

I have actually found reading the 'testimonies' of de-convertees on this and InfidelGuy's forums very valuable at giving me some insight into the mind of the believer.

I was raised Jewish, and I have to say that it was pretty easy to lay down the mantle of believer. Judaism itself is pretty atheistic, if you can get past the God-thing. The study of the Talmud is what does it to you. It makes you think about, and makes you discuss, all kinds of little things about Judaism and religion. This relatively open debate can lead almost anywhere, but for me it always led away from the religion. Some of the topics were pretty silly, and then it's compunded by serious debate, quoting this sage or that rabbi, or selecting a passage from the Torah, or delving deep within the Talmud itself to pick out some gem of a one-liner from some distant commentator. Really, for the life of me, I can't understand to this day why it was so important to establish that Moses did not eat pork while living as an Egyptian. I mean, if he did, surely Yahweh would have said something up there on the mountain and Moses would have written it down in his little book along with everything else God said. Heck, he wrote that he saw God's hindparts! He wouldn't forget something like 'Moses, don't eat anymore pork...I saw what you did back there at the palace,' would he?

And Christianity certainly doesn't have the market cornered when it comes to dictating life expectations and behaviors. Christianity just pays lip service to Deuteronomy and Numbers and Leviticus; Jews try to live it. Talk about impossible: no sex before marriage, no gambling, no drunkenness, don't eat this, don't eat that, don't wear this color on that day or I'll be smote...smited...whatever.

In the end it was easy to break down the whole shebang to its constituent parts and make a serious decision about its efficacy in my life. I figured I got enough silliness from Abbott and Costello and Lucille Ball and The Three Stooges; I also figured that the only things Judaism was doing for me beside boring me to tears in the synagogue was giving me a whole lot of reasons to not believe any of it and keeping me from eating a bacon double cheeseburger. Either way, it was a colossal waste of time. And I kind of like pork...nice tenderloin, marinated, grilled outside...yummy...applewood smoked bacon...the classic BLT, sublimely delicious.

Now my Friday nights and Saturday mornings are free. I can get a guilt-free tattoo. I can shave and cut my sideburns if I so choose. I can be free to think and feel how I want, when I want, where I want, and with whomever I choose. And I really, really, really like not having to have sex through a sheet, too. I can't stress that enough.

I have little poignant or anecdotal to share in this space, but I'm glad I wrote something that made someone like you waste their time reading it. HAVE SOME.

i participated in some acts that went against the teachings of the church, didnt get hit by lightening or die. and so came to the conclusion that this god thing wasnt that powerful. became a pagan breifly, whole nature thing, finally realized it was fake too and became an atheist

also figured that the only things Judaism was doing for me beside boring me to tears in the synagogue was giving me a whole lot of reasons to not believe any of it and keeping me from eating a bacon double cheeseburger. Either way, it was a colossal waste of time. And I kind of like pork...nice tenderloin, marinated, grilled outside...yummy...applewood smoked bacon...the classic BLT, sublimely delicious.